The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1887-09-18


painstaking but essentially hopeless effort to
take back piecemeal tho candid admission
which, OF tho outset II drawn from him In
block
u.-JoHN KEATS.
ofKeats, a. OF Sir Philip Sidney. postority
knows llttlo, but there IL this broad difference
that, grateful to tho bestower Of JOY forever,
the world In his case deplores Its ignorance.
OF Sidney. scarcely any one caros to hear. be-
cause not one man in O million can truly soy
that no has road through the Arcadia" or the
Defence OF Poesy," nor has ono In q
thousand 80 much as looked at "Astrophel
and Stella" OF Keats. on tho other hand,
we arc prompted to learn all we can by the
kindly human interest that invests for us the
fortunes OF comrades and benefactors. Not
that In this age Of equity IL can affoct our sense
OF indebtedness q jot to know whether the far
seeing author OF Etegi Monunentun," was the
son OF patrician or tho son Of freedman. or
whether the creator OF "Endymion" was the
son OF stable boy or the son OF q Duke. Yet
under what staggering disabilities some Of
those who wear tho laurel have run their race
Fraught, indeed, 1t is with not a little encour-
ngement and hope to discover how many that
start without the coveted equipment have won
admittance even to province apparently
reserved for tho favorites Of circumstance.
O knowledge OF the substance and tho spirit
OF Hellenic art and thought: to be told, for
example, that Grote and Finlay. the foremost
English historians OF Greece, never had the
supposed advantage Of Q university education,
and that the Titan figure OF Hyperion. which
might. so far as insight Is concerned. have
come unfinished from tho chisel Of Phidias.
was carved by one who probably could not
read line Of Greek author.
John Keats. It is well to remind those who
attach superlative value to tho influences Of
heredity and early environment. was tho son
OF hostler. who. by marrying the daughter Of
his employer. succeeded to the management Of
a livery stable. It was over this stable that
the thinner Of Isabella" and OF LAMA" was
born. His parents could afford to send him to
q small suburban school froouented by the
sons Of well-to-do City mon. This he left,
however. at the age Of fifteen. to be appren-
ticed to surgeon. When we add that he car
red of such prizes as were offered at this
school, that he imposed upon himself the task
Of translatinR into prose the whole Of the
Eneid. and is said to have learned Lem
prierre's dictionary by heart, and that. finally,
his acquaintance with Homer was gained
through the medium Of Chapman's translation
las We see from tho familiar sonnet), we have
exhausted the tale OF his educational opportu-
mites. What he was in himself We learn from
those who knew him; We quote from Mr.. SD
NEY CoLvIN the writer OF the life Of Keats In the
English Men Of Letters Series" only the testi-
mony OF those who could recognize the presence
Of genius when they saw 1t. Thus Hayden, the
painter. said Of him: Keats was the only man
! ever saw who seemed and looked conscious
OF high calling except Wordsworth" And
again. He had an eye that had an inward
look. perfectly divine. like a Delphian priestess
who saw Visions" To the same effect Leigh
Hunt wrote: His [Keats'sl eyes, at the recital
OF noble action or beautiful thought SUI
fused with tears. and his mouth trembled." An
other competent witness, Mrs. Proctor. has
recorded the impression the same eyes left
upon her as those of one who had been looking
on some glorious sight"
When one calls Keats Greek. ono means, Of
course. that he thought and felt, not that he
wrote like one. No one has drawn moro nicely
than Mr. Colvin the needful discrimination be-
tween the poets untutored yet unerring insight
into Greek ideals and the divergence In
the projection of his conceptions from Greek
treatment. which. In the absence Of any &C.
quaintance with Greek models at first hand.
he could not be expected to reproduce. Apro-
pos OF "Endymion." for instance. Mr.. Colvin
remarks: The manner In which Keats set
about relating the Greek story was as far from
being u Greek or classical manner as posi-
BILE. He indeed resembles the Greeks in his
vivid sense Of the Joyous and multitudinous
life OF nature: and he loved to follow them in
dreaming OF the powers OF nature rs embodied
In concrete shapes Of supernatural human ac-
tivity and grace. Moreover. his intutions for
every kind Of beauty being admirably
swift and true. when he sought to con-
.,,~ ~ nln
images from classic fable, he was able to do SO
may Justly be called Greek. but no further"
OF the same tenor is the comment on "Hype-
rion." in which he recognizes one Of the
grandest fragments In ourlanguage: Though
Keats secs the Greek world from afar, he secs
1t truly. Tho Greek touch is not his, but. in
his own rich and decorated English way, he
writes with q sure insight into the vital mean
ing Of Greek IDEAS For the story Of tho war
OF Titans and Olympians he had nothing to
guide him except scraps from the ancient writ
ers. principally Hesiod. as retailed by the
compilers Of classical dictionaries; and. from
the scholars point Of view. his version would
at many points have been arbitrary. mixing
up Latin conceptions and nomenclature with
Greek. and introducing much now matter Of
his own invention. But rs to the essential
dethronement Of an older and ruder worship
by one more advanced and humane, in which
ideas Of ethics and Of arts held larger place
beside ideas Of nature and brute powers-as to
this 1t could not possibly be OWNED more truly
or illustrated with moro beauty and force"
As to the once current notion that Keats was
bruised and even crushed. by the savage treat
ment Of his poems at the hands Of malignant
and incompetent reviewers, this is now well
known to be u myth. The truth is. as Mr.. Col
win has made plain enough. that Keats had no
irritable vanity. and was not particularly hurt
by the spite and drivel Of his London Quar-
terlv and Blackpood traducers. Neither is 1t
consonant with the facts to assume. as Shelley
has dono. that We should have had IL moro
splendid accomplishment had the life OF Keats
been outstretched O little longer. A few years
would have added nothing worthy Of his pro-
vious achievements unless he could have
counted also on renewal Of his youths VI
tally. For more than a year before his death
lat 20. In 1921. premature physical decay had
II, J. ta -